


where is the ring?

by bbqcastiel



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Cheating, M/M, Marriage, Mentioned Lee Jooheon, Showki, hurt shownu, kiho, mentioned yoshi and gucci, showho college roommates, shownu cant move on bc kiho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 12:12:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17182763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbqcastiel/pseuds/bbqcastiel
Summary: Hyunwoo never took out the ring and wonders if it truly was his only hope.(showki bingo entry: CARD A break up)





	where is the ring?

_Hyunwoo hyung, it’s been a long time huh. I know we haven’t talked for... years. Sorry._

_i dont blame you for anything, thats not why i havent reached out to you until now, no... its because maybe you do... in me._

✓ Sent 8:59 AM

_Ive been debating if i should message you for 4 years but_ _someone finally made me do it_ _. They said you probably moved on and living happy... like i am now. I hope to God they’re right. Hyunwoo hyung, I really hope you are doing alright. We didn’t part ways in an ideal fashion, but i hope you found your way up._

✓ Sent 9:06 AM

_Hyunwoo hyung, I cared for you. And always will. Please text me back. Our talk is long overdue._

✓ Seen 9:27 AM

_: )_

✓ Seen 9:31 AM

 

 

Hyunwoo did not expect his day to start off like this. Not even in his wildest imaginations would his ex's name to be the first thing he sees on a Sunday morning. He groans and stretches his body across his air mattress and tosses the phone mindless of where it will land.

“Good morning to me,” he sighs.

* * *

 

Hyunwoo, a single 30 year-old man, found himself sitting in front of Kihyun, a (single?) 26 year-old man who is as beautiful as the day he laid eyes on him, if not more. The cold winter air made his red nose more visible against his pale skin, Hyunwoo’s hands itch in wanting to warm the smaller man up, like he did everytime this season comes around.

“Hey,” he starts.

“Hi, Hyunwoo hyung,” Kihyun smiles warmly but all Hyunwoo could do is a tight one in return. This made the other drop his eyes away and onto the street next to them. He’s extremely transparent, Kihyun thinks. His emotions are presented on the table unlike before where it still needs to be unwrapped.

What happened to Hyunwoo? His mind goes to the time where they parted ways. It was Christmas. Outside the warm jazz bar. Their emotions, anger, hopelessness, frustration, sadness, were overflowing onto the biting cold. Kihyun bites his top lip remembering the memory he wishes to erase.

Hyunwoo suggested meeting here, a small cafe a block away from his apartment (or a rat den that he happens to live on as he would like to call it) and his work, which he is still wearing the clothes from under the coat for the declining temperature for the winter that only just started making its presence known.

Hyunwoo looks at his cracked watch, “we only have quarter of an hour, why don’t we start now?” he grumbles.

He has plenty of free time, when he gets day offs and when his shift ends. But he chose it to be now, his lunch break, and lied to his ex that he's an extremely busy man, (being a construction worker and all at a busy city, "buildings can’t build themselves") and could only sneak their meeting after 4 long years into an hour.

It’s only fair to lie he justifies.

“Of course,” Kihyun smiles tight now that Hyunwoo is not welcoming to smiles that feels like the past years didn’t happen.

* * *

 

_“Hyung!” he calls the attention of the man in the kitchen, cleaning up after their friends that came over._

_“Oh?” he calls back as he transfers the leftover food from the Christmas dinner onto separate Tupperwares._

_“Come here for a sec!”_

_He hums in acknowledgement as he closes the lid on the last food to be stored and put it inside their refrigerator._

_“What is it?” he asks as he emerges in the living room where Kihyun is._

_The fireplace being the only light that is illuminating their small home and its occasional cracks the only sound. Hyunwoo’s eyes has yet to adjust to the dim lighting coming from the well-lit kitchen when Kihyun’s head popped up from the couch where he was laying down. Immediately, his eyes went wide with glee and jumped off from their worn-out couch decorated with blankets and fleece that are Christmas themed._

_“Come here, come here,” Kihyun holds Hyunwoo’s hand and guided him to sit on the floor in front of the fireplace, facing each other._

_What is going on? Hyunwoo amusingly thinks._

_Kihyun straightens his back, closes his eyes, and lets out a deep breath._

_This time, Hyunwoo voices out his curiosity. “Kihyun, tell me already,” he lightly slaps the other on his knees with a chuckle, just a second ago he was smiling and now he was nervous._

_“Okay, okay,” Kihyun clears out his throat and reaches for something in his back pocket. Hyunwoo’s eyes follow every move. What, another Christmas present? He loved the necklace and made sure he expressed his gratitude, was Kihyun not satisfied?_

_Two years in the relationship but he never saw this coming, not even thought about it. He always thought he would be the one to do it. But when Kihyun pulled out a box containing a ring._

_He said yes._

* * *

 

Hyunwoo’s thumb absentmindedly rubs his ring finger.

15 minutes had passed, majority of those were looking back on the past. Good memories (that turned sour, but they don’t mention that part) are thrown out in the hopes of getting past the uncomfortable wall between the ex-lovers. Kihyun mostly did the talking, Hyunwoo only filled in some.

> _“Remember when Jooheon sneaked in Yoshi and Gucci inside the movies?”_
> 
> _“Yes, he was kicked out and we all followed him,” Kihyun deflated, there was more to the story but Hyunwoo ended it quickly and unamusingly. It was like all humor from his body left. Or is it because Kihyun is the one he’s talking to?_
> 
> _Kihyun sighed. “I wonder how the cats are doing now.”_
> 
> _“I’m sure they’re fine,” Hyunwoo sipped from his coffee._

Kihyun planned on starting it off with some light-hearted conversation but it clearly isn’t going well.

Kihyun straightens his back, closes his eyes, and lets out a deep breath. Just like before, but a different place, time, and history.

“Hyunwoo hyung,” he calls out softly amidst the traffic beside them and Hyunwoo blankly looking at the steam coming from his mug. “The reason why I reached out is…” This caught his attention that his eyes immediately tore from the uninteresting beverage.

Hyunwoo looks him in the eye, while Kihyun tries but fails to do so. His nerves are getting into him, he thought he could do this. He _did_ do this, but in his mirror at home. He should’ve known better, stressing and practicing for a hundred times does not make the real thing easier. But he needs to do this right now or he won’t have any courage to do this in the future, so he forces his voice to come out.

“I’m getting married.”

* * *

 

_“Hyung, I’m going out,” Kihyun calls but before he could even acknowledge it, the door slams shut and he’s now alone googling a ring fit for Kihyun’s._

_“Hyung, I just ate out, I’m full,” Kihyun says before passing out on their bed. Leaving Hyunwoo another serving to put into a Tupperware._

_“We watched this musical, it’s nice but I’m sure you won’t like it,” he downplays but he saw the flyer three days ago and he was interested._

_It went on for months. Hyunwoo was left in the dark for months but he thought space is what Kihyun needs, they’ve been inseparable for two years that it’s only normal for couples to do things on their own. Maybe he should do it, too._

_He calls for his best friend, Hoseok, while Kihyun went out for movies with Changkyun._

_“Hello?” he picks up, there’s a soft piano playing in the background and murmurs of people._

_“Hoseok, are you busy?”_

_“I, uh, kinda am, hyung. Why?” Hoseok’s out on a date, Hyunwoo muses to himself, who’s the lucky girl?_

_“Ah, then never mind me. Kihyun is just out with Kkung and left me here alone, so I thought I’d call you to hang out or do something, like before all the adult thing came,”_

_He chuckles, “yeah, when all we did was drink our faces off and survive a day in uni with our hangovers,” a couple of seconds passes while the two remembers their university antics. “Well, we’ll hang out next time. I’ll call you,” he promises._

_“Sure, sure. And Hoseok,”_

_“Yep?”_

_“Good luck, it's time to introduce us to someone new,” with girls Hoseok doesn’t need good lucks from a man like Hyunwoo, but he gives it anyway._

_“Of-of course. Yes. Uh, thanks, Hyunwoo.”_

_Hyunwoo was about to remove his phone from his ear to hang up but a voice was caught through receiver. “Hoseok, sorry it took so long. Hyunwoo hyung was trying to burn the house down—” then Hoseok cut it for him._

_He stares at his phone for the longest time, Hoseok’s name is front and center. Then he looks at the cake he baked, burnt and lopsided._

_That accident was all he needed for the pieces to match up. And it only piled up every time he let it happen further. He is a fool for turning the blind eye, but he’d rather be blind than to erase his presence altogether. But he figured, no, Kihyun is not here anymore. Not with him. Not when affection has gone cold for Hyunwoo and warm for Hoseok._

_Inviting to hang out with all their friends to eat out, Hyunwoo’s treat, was a good idea in his head. There was no milestone, he didn’t get a promotion, a new job, or any little thing, but there was supposed to be in that moment. He wanted to try harder, maybe if he reminded Kihyun the person he promised to be with, it would all fall into place, so when the ring he ordered online arrived, it became his only hope._

_Nobody knew what he was planning. He invited everyone, especially Hoseok. He wanted Hoseok to see who is his and who he plans to marry. And to take his dirty hands off the man he loves, he has seen what those hands did and thinking that Kihyun is subjected under those, it made him see red._

_Squeezing the box in his pocket, it felt… wrong. Holding it while he was seeing, first-hand, the looks between his lover and his best friend, everything did come in place._

_He confronted Kihyun outside, the muffled jazz coming through the cracks of the building’s door. Kihyun pleaded innocence at first and Hyunwoo wasn't sure if this went on for a second more he would have believe it, but Kihyun confessed and Hyunwoo could only walk away._

_He never took out the ring._

* * *

 

He is shameless. Inviting his ex to his wedding, shameless.

Kihyun is shameless. Shameless, shameless, shameless.

 

“Where’s the ring?” His thoughts that are spiraling downwards is stopped by Hyunwoo’s question.

“The ring?” Kihyun being stunned, asks.

Hyunwoo motions to Kihyun’s hand, missing of a ring for an engaged man.

“Oh, the ring,” he starts, moving his fingers to look at it. “I-I didn’t wear it.”

Hyunwoo nods. Of course, he didn’t, he would always hide the truth from him for longer than it needs to be. That was always how it went with Kihyun, 'Protect Hyunwoo' like he needs to be protected.

“Is it still him?” his eyes closed for a second and met Kihyun’s with great sadness. His world crashed down years ago, every fiber of his being that he tried to salvage, wiped away by the loving eyes from Kihyun that wasn't meant for him. He saw it in that he thought there is nothing left, the rest made itself known right in front of the man he loves and who loved him. It’s begging, begging not to be stepped on, not to follow its predecessor’s path, begging the impossible, because there is no escape.

This is the fate of Son Hyunwoo, and he’s just here to accept it.

He said yes and Hyunwoo wondered if the ring truly was his only hope.

**Author's Note:**

> kinda not sure about this one but i still hope it's readable lmao <3  
> my friend nasi and her love for kiho made me want to integrate them into the story hihi but no hidden agenda against them sksashdsdhsd
> 
> follow me on twitter maybe? @wonhosbottoms


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